A Time to Talk and a Time to Listen
by A M3mb3r123
Summary: 14 year old Ezra Bridger lives a fairly normal life, if one can call living alone and scavenging for food normal. But this life of his is turned upside down when a group of people show up in town. Read as Ezra learns what it really means to talk and listen.
1. The Beginning

**A/N** Hello everyone! This is my second take on BelieveInYourDreamsForLife's Challenge. Reasons for why a started over are down below everything, but for now, please enjoy the story!

 **Disclaimer – Star Wars Rebels isn't mine, but gosh, I wish it was!**

Ezra walked along the streets of Capital City. _"I need some food."_ He stopped at a vender selling Yogans. He walked by, casually scanning the fruit until another customer took the venders attention away. He reached for the fruit, and was about to put it into his pocket when the vender saw him and snatched it out of his hands.

"Move along, Stumm. You ain't stealing from here today." The vender said gruffly, using the nickname all the venders gave Ezra, and giving him a firm whack on the head.

 _"_ _I just need to eat!"_ Ezra thought, but he didn't say anything, giving the vender a nasty look as he ran off. He rarely said anything. He just moved along and tried to find something else.

He was about to steal a Melorun, his absolute favorite fruit, when something tugged in his mind, like music almost, making him drop the fruit and turn. This happened every once and a while, but this time it was stronger. Ezra had learned to trust the Music. He didn't trust much else.

When he whirled around and saw a man in green. Green pants, green shirt, green armor. He looked like a tree, or a bush. The Music was tugging, telling him to move closer.

 _"_ _Who is this guy?"_ He thought. Suddenly, the man glanced over his shoulders and stared Ezra right in the eyes. The Music got louder, but Ezra was so surprised by the eye contact that he slowly backed away. He blinked hard, and the man had turn around.

He slumped against the side of a building, as the man walked off. But the Music kept tugging, urging him to follow a complete stranger. He grabbed onto a window sill and pulled himself up, using an escape ladder to reach the top of the building.

 _"_ _Music,"_ He thought, _"I'll follow this guy, but I'm still getting food later."_ He spied on the man for a while, always keeping just out of sight. The only reason he was doing this was because the Music had helped him find food and shelter before.

The Tree, as Ezra had dubbed him, wasn't doing anything interesting. Just going to different vendors and picking up what seemed to be supplies. He wasn't even that good at bartering. He seemed to know that Ezra was following him though. He'd look back every once in a while, smirking as he saw the child's foot go behind a building. Ezra couldn't understand why, and that confused him. Why did The Tree smirk when he saw him? Wasn't Ezra getting out of the line of sight fast enough?

Soon, The Tree was walking alongside a big, terrifying creature, which Ezra was sure could only be a Lasat. They were talking, laughing a bit. After a few more blocks of walking, a girl in pink and red armor walked out and started talking to the men. Ezra took this opportunity to sit down for a while and catch his breath, from the safety of a nearby roof top. The Music, which he had still been following, died down just a bit, but kept a constant whine in the back of his head.

 _"_ _Geez, would yah calm down today?"_ Ezra thought. For a second, he almost believed that the ringing was from the whack the vendor had given him. That is, until he saw Rainbow (the girl in the armor) pull out a small remote. The Music screamed, telling Ezra to get off the building and fast. He jumped down just as the building blew up, sending him flying further. A sharp pain in his right side told him that something had hit him, hard. He let out a hard grunt as he hit the ground, wincing in pain.

"Woah, kid, are you alright?" Rainbow was standing right next to him, holding out a hand to help him up. The Tree and Lasat looked stunned that he was even living. Something flashed across The Tree's face, almost like he was remembering something, but it was gone in a second.

Ezra let the girl help him up, but didn't answer her question. He looked around and noticed a speeder. If he could only get to it quickly . . .

"You! Put your hands up!" Four Stormtroopers ran around a corner, creating just the distraction Ezra needed. Before he could get away though, the attention was brought back to him.

"You too Stumm! You've stole enough today!" All three people standing around him looked directly at him, making him extremely uncomfortable. He raised his eyebrows as if to say, _"They're still here, pointing guns at us."_ He thought that no one got his meaning. He was just about to raise his hands when The Tree whipped out a blaster and shot two Troopers. That snapped the others back to reality, taking the attention off of Ezra. While the others fought off the Empire, and its reinforcements, he ran to the speeder, jumping on and flying away, ignoring the angry shouts of the others and the pain in his side.

 ** _-SWR-_**

Ezra made it home safely, to an abandoned Imperial Broadcast Tower. He took the rickety old stairs up a few flights, not trusting the elevator which was only a few steps away, beckoning to him like a jewel in the window of a pawn shop. Beautiful and wonderful in its own right, but dangerous to get.

As he reached the top of the stairs, the Music, which had been fairly loud till now, quieted down a little bit, seeming quite annoyed. Ezra didn't know what to do about it. He thought about talking to it, but he'd done that enough today and it never really helped. He sat down on his makeshift couch, immediately regretting it. His side hurt badly from the explosion. He'd been able to push the pain down for a little while, but here, it came on full force. Mentally rating the pain at a 6, he decided this was a good time to use his meager supply of pain killers.

The walk to his cabinet was hard, but not the hardest thing he'd ever down. He downed the pill dry, hurting his aching throat. The scream he let out as he fell had really hurt it. Ezra grabbed the few clean bandages he had, and sat back on the couch. He removed his shirt and winced at the sight. There was a small patch of blood, no bigger than a Yogan. His flesh was tender all around it. By tomorrow, it would be a bad bruise.

He cleaned and patched his side the best he could, grimacing every time the bandage touched his damaged skin. As he put his shirt back on, a sound could be heard outside. Ezra wandered over to the door leading to his outside rail, leaning on it for support the second he got there. He could still hear the sound, but couldn't tell where it was coming from. He stained his eyes to see whatever was making that sound. All of a sudden, a ship emerged from the clouds.

And The Tree was sitting in the co-pilot's seat.

 **A/N** Well there you go! The first chapter of my new, er, old-ish story! Okay, when I started reading over my old story, I realized that my writing style has changed some in the couple of years that I've been gone. Don't worry though! I still plan on writing fluffy stuff and younger Ezra, but maybe not as much. Thanks for understanding!

Questions and comments are appreciated!

 _-M3m_


	2. Something You Can't Steal

**A/N** Here is chapter two! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and welcomed me back, I'm so glad you liked it!

 **Disclaimer – I do not own Star Wars Rebels. Darn it.**

 _"_ _The Tree?! What is he doing here?!"_ Ezra thought, extremely surprised. _"How did they find me? Is this just a coincidence? If not, then why are they here?"_ His brain was working a million miles an hour, not to mention the Music screaming at him. He was shaking inside, scared of what they wanted, but on the outside, he appeared calm and cool. That was something that came for years of living on the streets.

Ezra figured that the only way to see what they wanted would be to go out to where they had landed. But he couldn't do that, not in his condition. He moved back closer to the building, where he could see them, but it would be harder for them to see him. Slowly, figures came out of the ship one by one. First The Tree, then a Twi'lek, Lasat, and Rainbow.

The Tree seemed distracted and kept looking in Ezra's general direction, never actually seeing him. If he had, he didn't let on. The Twi'lek yelled something at him. He put his hands up and walked to the base of the tower. Ezra could hear him knocking, but pretended he didn't. Maybe they would go away . . .

"Kid, I know you're up there, open this door!" So The Tree had seen him. Ezra thought about just staying put, but decided he had to get up and confront the people.

He opened that door, not saying anything as usual, and raising his eyebrows as if to say _"What?"_. The Tree was a bit taken aback by the lack of greeting, but quickly recovered his composer.

"Look Kid, we need our speeder back. Now." The man was firm, probably talking like he would to another adult, not a fourteen year old kid. Ezra held his and out, rubbing his figures together. _"What's in it for me?"_

"What? No! That's our speeder, you stole it. Hand it over." The Tree was getting more demanding by the minute. Ezra quickly checked for weapons on him. Blaster and a few cylinders hanging on his belt. He also looked like he had been in a few bar fights. Ezra held his hand out, the international sign for _"Credits. Now."_ The Tree rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Kid, give us our speeder." At this comment, Ezra shrugged and pressed the button which closed and locked the door. The Tree swore loudly, then could be heard shouting to his friends. He banged on the door once more.

Ezra opened it, a smile on his face. _"Yes?"_

"Look, here are a couple of credits." The Tree held out his hand, two shiny gold credits in his open palm. Ezra sighed. All he wanted to do was say, _"Hey, I was thrown off building because of you guys, you_ owe _me more credits."_ Instead he tugged the high collar of his shirt higher, and held his hand out, eyebrow raised in defiance.

"Fine." The Tree sighed and pulled out two more credits, adding it to the pile. Ezra nodded, took the money, and pointed to the speeder when The Tree asked where it was.

"Kid!" The man said, halfway to his ship. "Thank you, you've done a good thing today." All Ezra did was roll his eyes and shut the door. Loudly.

 ** _-SWR-_**

The next day, Ezra had walked the full two miles to the city, fulling intending to scavenge for food. By the time he got there, his side was hurting, bad. No jumping on rooftops today.

The Music was pulling again. There were Stormtroopers everywhere, most likely a result of yesterday's explosion. Just thinking about it made Ezra ache. He knew that he was lucky. Lucky the Music was there to help him, telling him to jump off of that building before Rainbow blew it up. If he would have stayed a second longer, he definitely would have been hurt more. Maybe even killed. Ezra shuddered at the thought, but quickly brushed it off. It's not like he hadn't faced death before.

As he walked through the streets, he saw many venders selling meats and stew, the smell calling to him more now, considering he didn't eat anything yesterday. The four credits hung heavy in his pocket, reminding him that he could _buy_ something from the venders instead of steal. But he pushed the feeling down, knowing that money had to be used for something that couldn't be robbed. Medicine.

A small bell twinkled as Ezra walked into the pharmacy. They had every kind of medicine here to treat anything. Pain killers, fever reducers, even things like anti-depressants and sleeping pills. Every time he saw those sleeping pills, Ezra couldn't help but wonder would how it would feel to take one. He imagined it like being wrapped in a blanket, then sweetly lulled to sleep. He would never find out, though. They cost too dang much.

"What do you want, Stumm?" The old pharmacist, a Duros, walked up behind him, arms crossed. He wasn't exactly Ezra's biggest fan, but he knew about his lack of speech, which helped with communication a little bit. Ezra pointed to a box with pain killers and grabbed a roll of bandages.

"Whad'ga do this time? Stole something from Jaul?" The humanoid laughed at his own joke, taking the pills to the counter. Jaul was a Nikto, big and strong, he was responsible for most of Ezra's broken bones over the last few years. If Ezra saw him on the street, he usually turned around and went the other way. Ezra's very presence angered him. He'd stole from him a few too many times, and was his personal enemy number one, higher on his hate list them the Emperor himself.

"That'll be five credits." The pharmacist said roughly, breaking Ezra's thoughts. He lamely held up the four credits he had, wanting there to be another one in the small pile.

"Stumm, I said five. What are you, stupid?" For some reason, he thought that was funny. On impulse, Ezra grabbed the small stash of supplies, two of his four credits, and ran. Out the door and down the street, faster than ever. Without thinking twice, he grabbed a ladder and scaled a nearby building.

The second he sat down, he regretted the stunt. His side burned from the old bandages rubbing up against wound. There was no way he was going to be able to move anytime soon. The only thing distracting him from the pain where the shouts of the pharmacist calling for help.

 _"_ _That's one place I'll never go again."_ Ezra thought, trying to find a more comfortable and more concealing place on the roof. He was likely going to have to stay here close, if not, to nightfall. At the very least, there wouldn't be any Stormtroopers there. Ezra knew as well as anyone else that that was one of the few illegal pharmacies that the Empire overlooked. Without it, the workers on Lothal would all die from one thing or another, seeing as Empiral pharmacies cost too much for the average person to buy anything. Still, if these places ever needed an inspection or help from Empiral forces, they would be shut down faster than you could say "Oops".

Ezra settled in for a long wait, just as the sun reached its highest point in the sky.

 **A/N** That was chapter two! I'm planning on updating on Mondays (I have a few chapters finished already) but the schedule is subject to change with State Forensics and Nationals Debate coming up. I hope you liked it, and as always, feedback and comments are appreciated!

 _-Mem_


	3. Just Not a Good Day

**A/N** Here is chapter three! I rewrote it probably five times, I hope you all love it!

 **Disclaimer – I do NOT own the Star Wars Rebels franchise. I wish I did, but I don't.**

The sun had just set over Lothal, and Ezra was ready to move. He had taken another pain killer dry, and tried to get a few minutes of sleep. While the sleep had been unsuccessful, the pain killers had helped quite a bit. He climbed down from the building, slowly, being careful to not upset his side.

Once he reached the ground, he looked around. He hadn't stayed the night in the city in a while, and had almost forgotten what it was like. Black market venders roamed the alley ways, keeping just out of the reach of patrolling Stormtroopers. Though Ezra hadn't been here in a while, he still remembered the patrol schedules like the back of his hand.

He turned down an alley, not even looking to see if there was anyone was there, and almost ran straight into The Tree.

"Kid?! What are you doing here?" He said. Everyone from the ship was there except for Rainbow. Before Ezra could even think about responding, heavy footsteps could be heard approaching. Everyone turned to look as a massive dark figure came around the corner and stopped. The Tree stepped in front of Ezra, blocking his view.

"Do you 'ave the credits?" A familiar voice asked.

"Depends. You have the info?" The Twi'lek stepped forward, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. Clearly _she_ knew what she was doing. Ezra stepped to the side to get a better look at what was going on, and immediately wished he had stayed put. Not more than fifteen feet in front of him was Jaul, who looked Ezra's way. His mouth turned up in a disgusting smirk.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we 'ave 'ere. A Stumm!" Ezra stepped forward with a defiant look on his face, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. _"Seriously? That was not funny."_

"New price!" He declared stepping over towards Ezra. "You give me this 'ere boy, and I'll give yah the info. No credits, just this boy." He glanced back at Ezra, his smirk growing by the minute.

"Deal!" The Lasat shouted, stepping in front of The Tree.

"No deal!" The Tree and Twi'lek said at the same time, glaring at him. A droid came out from behind the group and shoved Ezra closer to Jaul, making a few annoyed beeps. Ezra wobbled but didn't fall.

"Chopper, cut it out." Twi'lek said. "Sorry Jaul, but no. This boy isn't going with you."

"Why not?" The Lasat whined. The Tree turned around to tell him off when Ezra felt a large hand on his shoulder. He had made the mistake of turned his back to Jaul.

Next thing Ezra knew, he was slung over Jaul's back. He tried kicking but it was no use. He was just too strong.

"Alright, I'll be going now. 'Ave a nice night!" Jaul turned around and ran. The Tree immediately turned around and pulled out a blaster, shooting at the Nikto, Twi'lek following close behind. Jaul promptly turned around and started shooting back at them. Ezra took this opportunity to try and punch him in the face, but it didn't work. He started slipping off Jaul's back. Jaul let him fall, but he landed on a pile of metal scraps. Ezra felt a huge pain in his arm and cried out loudly for the second time this week, making his throat hurt more than it had in a long time.

"You stay there!" Jaul growled at him, kicking him to the side before his resumed shooting at the small group. Something passed over The Tree's face, and he reached for the cylinders on his belt.

"Are you sure?!" Twi'lek shouted at him, turning only briefly to look at his face.

"I'm sure." The Tree didn't look at her, but straight ahead, right at Jaul. He twisted the two cylinders together and pressed a button. A magnificent beam of blue light shot from the end of the cylinder, coming to a point at the very end. Ezra was amazed. _"A lightsaber?!"_

By now, Stormtroopers had entered the area, and were shooting at both parties, who were still exchanging fire with each other, red and blue blaster bolts went everywhere, but Ezra couldn't take his eyes off The Tree. He was moving so gracefully, blocking every shot that came his way, all while advancing swiftly.

Stormtroopers fell, and Jaul was being pushed back. He finally stood up and ran, completely forgetting about Ezra. Without any cover fire now, Ezra was at the mercy of the Troopers. One hit him in his arm. He yelled in pain, and a familiar metallic taste filled his mouth.

The Tree was in front of his within a matter of seconds, deflecting all the blasts back at the Troopers.

"Are you okay?!" He shouted at Ezra over the noise. Despite the pain, he face palmed. Had he really thought he would answer?

"Kid?!" He shouted again.

"Specter 1, it's time to get out of here!" The Twi'lek yelled. She and the Lasat were only a few feet away, with no droid in sight.

"I know, I know." The Tree's teeth were gritted, but it didn't look like he was in pain. He glanced over his shoulder at Ezra, losing focus for just a second, allowing a Trooper to almost _not_ hit him.

 _"_ _Funny."_ Ezra thought. _"They were on stun when Jaul was here."_ He tried to move so he could use his energy slingshot, but it was no use. All three people were in his way. The sound of running filled the air.

"We have to move, _now_." The Twi'lek took out two troopers with her blaster as she said this.

"Specter 4, grab the kid." The Tree yelled, spinning the lightsaber like there was no tomorrow. The Lasat rolled his eyes and helped the kid to his feet. Ezra winced in pain, but began to run with the Lasat and Twi'lek, The Tree following closely behind, covering their backs.

The sudden movement made Ezra's head hurt, and everything was starting to turn a bit fuzzy. He couldn't tell exactly where they were, but knew he had to keep running. He could only see two feet in front of him but he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings.

"Woah what happened?" It was most likely Rainbow's voice, but Ezra couldn't see her. He plopped roughly on the floor of some ship. Someone ran off to another part of the ship, and some sort of hatch closed.

"Kid, can you hear me?" A green blob moved in front of him. Ezra tried to make a small sound, or move his arm, but he couldn't. His head went numb, and he felt very, very tired.

"Kid?" That was the last thing Ezra heard before everything went black.

 **A/N** There's chapter three! Please don't kill me! If there are any questions, please shoot (Haha, too soon?) me a comment! They are always appreciated! :)

 _-M3m_


	4. Stitchy Situation

**A/N** Hello there my beautiful people! Thank you so much to everyone who has followed, and/or commented! Special shout out to Gen, who left the longest comment I have ever received!

Hope all of you like this chapter!

 **Disclaimer – I do not own the Star Wars Rebels franchise. Period.**

 _It was dark. So dark. Like floating into space, but there being no stars. Ezra knew that he was unconscious, but couldn't seem to wake up. Of course, the sleep felt good. That is, until the mist came._

 _Mist started floating in the darkness, making everything a little lighter. The stars started to come back, forming a circle right in the middle of the misty darkness._

 _"_ _Many trails you will go through, young one. Hard, the path ahead is." An old, scratchy voice said. The star grew lighter when it talked, and dimmer as it stopped._

 _"_ _Who are you?" Ezra's thoughts sounded so loud in the darkness, bouncing off of everything, echoing the slightest bit. The echo annoyed him, but that thought stayed quiet._

 _"_ _Not important is who I am. The important one, you are." The stars faded._

 _"_ _Ezzy, stay here." A woman's voice said. It sounded so familiar. His nightmares, that voice was in Ezra's nightmares. He tried to wake up to escape the voice, but couldn't._

 _"_ _Ezra, you'll be safe here." It was another voice, this time male. Ezra wanted to shout, to scream. He would never be safe, not here, not there, not anywhere._

 _"_ _Safe, safe . . ." The voices repeated it together, over and over again, chanting it like some kind of prayer._

Ezra's eyes snapped open, but the lighting was so bright that he immediately closed them again. He felt light, like he was flying. He opened his eyes again and realized that he wasn't laying on the soft plains of Lothal, but on a cold hard surface. He could hear people shouting, and suddenly felt himself dip down. He realized he was on a ship.

Instead of wondering how he was going to get out of this situation, he decided to assess his wounds. Someone had put a cloth over his arm to help stop the blood flow. He lifted it and quickly realized that he was going to need a lot of stiches. And pain meds.

Aside from his arm, he had various cuts and scrapes. Ezra reached a hand up to his throat, and was pleased to know his shirt was still buttoned up all the way. But his throat hurt a _lot_. He needed to stop screaming and yelling all the time.

The shift in the ship brought his back to the present. There was nobody around, although he could hear their shouts throughout the ship. Something was wrong, but Ezra couldn't think about that now. He needed to get his wounds treated as fast as possible, or there was no way they would heal properly.

After a few more bumps and turns, and a _lot_ of looking around, he found a med-kit attached to the far wall. The inside was stocked with wraps, pain meds, and sterile string. _"Perfect"_

The Music had been constantly buzzing since the confrontation with Jaul. It screamed moments before the ship would shake, as if on cue. Ezra knew he needed to ignore it so that he could concentrate on his arm.

He pulled the thread out of the package and threaded the needle like he had done so many times in the past seven years. He didn't even need to use the numbing pain. He pulled the thread through his flesh, barely even wincing. An image came to his mind of someone who was sewing together fabric, not flesh. The woman looked familiar, but Ezra couldn't quite place her.

It only took Ezra five minutes to finish the job. His arm felt funny, but that was expected. He knew that he'd need a pain killer for when the shock wore off, but there was no way he could take one dry like he had been doing. He needed water . . .

Ezra's thoughts were interrupted when the ship jolted forward, like they'd picked up speed. He immediately ran to a window port to see blue-purple streaks flying past him. _"What's going on? Where are the stars?"_

It occurred to Ezra that the shouting had stopped, and the atmosphere was much calmer. He heard footsteps coming towards him and two people talking.

"I'll need to stich him up . . ." The Twi'lek and Tree passed through a door on a platform above Ezra and stopped the second they saw him. The Twi'lek's face was shocked, and The Tree just smirked.

"I think he can take care of himself, Hera." The Tree slid down the ladder to Ezra. "Kid, what's your name?"

Ezra face-palmed once again. The Tree really needed to get his act together.

"Kanan, he obviously can't talk." Hera had come up behind him and whacked him on the back of his head.

"Hey!" Kanan protested, rubbing his head as Hera brushed past him. Ezra smirked. _"These two need to get a room."_

"Okay, so here's what's going on. We jumped to Hyperspace to get away from the Empire. We'll get you back home to your parents, I promise, you 'll just have to spend a few standard orbits with us." Ezra didn't know how to feel about that statement. There was no one in his life that could qualify as a parent, but decided to let this fact go. He just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Kanan sighed before saying, "Look, we're just trying to help. We're not going to ask you any questions or make you spill your life story, we just need to you to trust us."

 _"_ _Trust? After you blew up a building with me on top?"_ Ezra really wished he could sass the older male, but settled on looking perpetually annoyed.

Hera sighed the slightest, and led Ezra out of the cargo room to the galley. She gave him a glass of water and a pain killer. Of course, Ezra had to examine both before swallowing the pill. She then led him to the cockpit and had him sit in the copilot seat. Ezra assumed she was doing this to keep him out of trouble. _"Ugh."_

A few minutes later, Rainbow walked in to ask Hera a question, but stopped when she saw Ezra.

"What's the kid doing here?" She asked. Now it was Hera's turn to be annoyed.

"Where else would he be?" She replied. Ezra snickered. Something told him that Hera got annoyed often. "Anyways, we don't know his name, but Kid, this is Sabine." Both Ezra and Sabine nodded to each other. Sabine immediately turned to Hera and started asking questions about running diagnostics, and left the second she got here answers.

Ezra was a little bummed. He would have liked to be acknowledged more.

Another few minutes passed by and Lasat strolled into the room to grab something off of the dashboard. He grunted when he saw Ezra and walked out once he had what he needed.

"That was Zeb." Hera explained. "He doesn't really like people in general. Don't take it too personally." Ezra decided he didn't like Zeb. Or that droid he saw earlier. He also decided that he didn't want to stay in this cockpit anymore. Once Hera started to dose off, Ezra slipped out of the chair and crawled into the vents, completely unnoticed by anyone on the ship.

 **A/N** There's chapter 4! Questions and comments are appreciated! Love you all!

-M3m


	5. Out of Caf

**A/N** Hey guys! I hope all y'all like this chapter, let me tell you, my favorite part to write was this opening scene. Love you guys, and I'll see you at the bottom!

 **Disclaimer - If I owned the Star Wars Universe, I wouldn't be without a car right now. Am I right?**

"Hera!" Kanan's loud voice could be heard from all parts of the ship.

"What Kanan?!" Hera snapped, obviously annoyed. He had woken her up from a very pleasant nap.

"We. Are out. Of caf!" Kanan yelled as he walked into the room.

"You woke me up. Because of caf." Hera turned around in her piolet's seat and looked Kanan right in the eye.

"Actually, no, we have plenty of caf, I just wanted to see how you'd react."

"Kanan Jarrus!" Hera stood up and wacked him. "Then why exactly did you wake me up?"

"Actually, the kid is missing." Kanan rubbed the back of his head where she had hit him.

"Well then, why didn't you yell that? Where in the galaxy could he be?"

"Because, we're in hyperspace, and the kid is obviously on the ship, hiding."

Hera looked out at the swirl of hyperspace and suddenly felt kind of dumb. "Hiding in the _Ghost_? Where is there to hide?"

 ** _-SWR-_**

Ezra was hiding in the _Ghost_ all right. In the vents that is. It hurt his side some, and his arm was suffering a little bit, but it was better than being fully exposed in the cockpit. Of all places, they had to put him right in the very front, like he was some sort of prize. The Music would whine every once and a while, like someone was walking by. He had heard Kanan shout at Hera, something about caf?

He knew he probably shouldn't be doing this. Hiding from the people who had saved his hide from Jaul. But they hadn't be exactly trustworthy before (cough, cough, _Zeb . . ._ ), and he was better safe than sorry. He knew not to trust people from the get-go. Made that mistake one too many times.

He found a nice, quiet, mostly comfortable place in the vents. It wasn't above and open spaces as far as he could tell. Ezra could exactly turn over and nap on his back, so he stayed on his stomach, resting his head against his uninjured arm.

But sleep didn't come. There was something not quite right. The Music almost sounded like a purr in the back of his mind. _"You may be able to calm down in new situations, but I can't."_

Ezra realized he was talking to The Music again. He tried to stay away from that. It made him feel like a little kid. And as much as he hated it sometimes, Ezra wasn't a little kid anymore. He'd had to grow up a long time ago . . .

Before he could begin to think about his past, the ship jolted, like it was entering heavier gravity, and jolted again as it landed. Wherever they were, it didn't really feel like home. It was like a certain _connection_ had been lost. Ezra's uneasiness grew once again as he heard some vents opening. They were looking for him, and Ezra wouldn't give him the pleasure of finding him.

"Kid? We know you're in there." Kanan's voice echoed in the emptiness of the vents, bouncing off of the thin, tin walls. He sounded a lot older.

"We're not going to hurt you, we just want you to come out. We're trying to help you." Hera was talking now. Her voice was calmer and lighter than Kanan's. Ezra wanted to believe Hera, because out of all of them, she seemed like she wanted to help the most. But there was something wrong about this whole debacle. He could tell because The Music was acting up again.

"Karabast!" Shouted Zeb, and he sounded angry. "Hera, we have a slight problem."

"What now Zeb?" They weren't talking into the vents anymore, but Ezra could still hear them, if he listened closely.

"There's an Imperial ship outside, and people are starting to get off!" The first thought that went through Ezra's head was _"They found me!"_ But then he reasoned with himself. They had followed this group of people, not necessarily him. And besides, if the Empire hadn't caught him on Lothal, why would they chase him all the way to another planet?

He could hear footsteps outside and then blaster shots. If any negotiations had taken place, they failed pretty quickly. Too quickly. Ezra moved through the vents toward the sound, The Music getting louder with every moment.

He finally got to a place where he could see through a gate and out the cargo door. Blaster bolts hit the ramp every few seconds. He heard Kanan's lightsaber ignite, which was followed by another sound. _"Another lightsaber?!"_ A thought immediately jumped into his head, but Ezra pushed it down out of habit.

 _"_ _There could be another person on this crew who has a lightsaber."_ Ezra reasoned, but somehow, he knew that wasn't true. He tried to think up other answers for whose lightsaber it could be, but only one felt right, and it was the one he liked the least.

The Music screamed as a blaster bolt hit the wall right next to the vent Ezra was in, and he knew he had to move soon. He could tell that the people out there weren't doing well. He could hear the lightsabers clashing and the grunts of the other crew members. Ezra had to do _something_.

He crawled through the vents and found the one that led to gun turret (which he had found earlier). He wasn't exactly sure what buttons to press, and he really wasn't sure what he was shooting at. He could see Kanan fighting someone, but couldn't be, was it . . .

Ezra's eye's widened in realization. After all these years, there was no way, he thought. _"He gave up a long time ago."_

But Ezra couldn't think about that now. He had to help. He wasn't used to sticking his neck out for other people, but this just felt _right_. He grabbed what seemed to be the controls and aimed towards the other man's ship. He pressed the button on the top of the handle, and a plasma bolt shot from the nozzle below him. It hit the ground just outside of the ship.

The other Force wielder looked up at Ezra and smirked before saying something to Kanan. Then he turned around, ran up the ramp of his ship, and flew away.

Ezra sighed before slumping in the seat, letting his memories flood back to him like a giant wave crashing over the small village of Ezra's mind.

 _"_ _You'll never win boy." Ezra's attacker sneered down him, his red lightsaber glowing brighter than the light of Lothal's moons. Ezra was bleeding from almost everywhere. "Tell me the secrets of your parents."_

 _Ezra stared defiantly up at the man, at his blood red markings under his eyes. He counted his options. He could tell the man what he wanted to know, and probably receive some sort of compensation for it. Or he could keep his mouth shut, protect his parents, and possibly get killed._

 _Ezra took a moment to push himself up from the ground, enough so that he didn't look as hurt as he felt. "Never." He stated. "I will never tell you anything."_

 **A/N** Hey there! So, how'd you like it? If you didn't catch it, up in the first scene there was a reference to _Hiding in a Ghost_ by my good friend Azilia james. Go check it out, and her other stories! I promise they will not disappoint, lol.

And now for some shameless self promotion . . . I have a couple one-shots that could use a little love. _Guiding Hand_ is my newest one, and it may become a series of one-shots at some point.

Anyway, hope you liked the chapter, and questions and comments are always appreciated!

-M3m


	6. Empty Pit of Nothingness

**A/N** Here's chapter 6! I'm sooo sorry I didn't get this out on Monday! Busy week!

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own the wonderful thing that is Star Wars Rebels.**

Ezra didn't move until he felt the ship take off again. It had taken quite a while to get his memories under control. He hadn't had to do that for quite a while.

As he was climbing down the ladder, he could see the crew sitting around a holochess table in what he assumed was the commons. He tried to read each of their faces. Hera looked almost proud, Sabine was approving, and Kanan was unreadable. Zeb, however, looked furious.

"That plasma bolt hit the ground two feet away from me! You could have killed me!" He tried to make a move towards Ezra, but Hera stopped him before he could get too close.

"The Kid did a good job. He was trying to help, not kill you." Hera sounded like a mom telling her child to stop tormenting a loth-cat. Ezra was glad that Hera could keep Zeb under control.

"Now Kid, we need to get you home. We're headed back to Lothal, and we'll land right outside of Capital City. From there we'll escort you to your house and explain things to your parents." Hera had put a hand on his shoulder, and started to lead him back to the cockpit, Kanan following.

Ezra wasn't exactly sure what to do. They knew he where he had been hiding, but for some reason it felt like they didn't think it was his home. What were they going to say when they realized he lived on his own?

He had plenty of time to think up of a plan though. Ezra had decided that it was going to take a while to get back to Lothal, judging from how Kanan and Hera were getting comfortable in their _respective_ chairs.

 ** _-SWR-_**

They landed on Lothal, just outside of Capital City as promised. The funny thing was, they about as far away from his tower as they could get.

"You three, stay on the ship and out of sight." Hera warned Sabine, Zeb and Chopper as they walked out the cargo door.

"Sir, yes sir." Zeb mumbled under his breath, which was just funny enough to break Ezra free from his thoughts and make him smirk. The sun was just about ready to set over the horizon, and a cool wind was blowing in from the plains.

"So Kid," Kanan said while they were walking. "We know you can't live in that old communications tower, we scanned for life on the way down." Ezra was quite surprised that they thought to do that.

"With that information, we need to know where you actually live." Hera said. "Lead the way."

Ezra had decided to take them to the one place where he knew no one else would be. His old home. Even with the time he had on the ship, he couldn't remember much of the place from when he was young. He would camp there every once and a while when there was no way to back out to his tower for the night, but he usually tried to avoid it.

They walked in silence the whole way there (not that Ezra had much of a choice). When they finally got to the door, Ezra felt around in his pocket for the old key card and placed in the holder by the door. The door opened up just a little bit, and Ezra had to shove it for it to open the whole way.

 _"_ _Congratulations,"_ Ezra thought as he gestured into the house. _"Welcome to my empty pit of nothingness."_

Kanan and Hera stepped in cautiously and looked around. There really wasn't much to see but dust and an old couch that was probably invested with lothrats. They stayed silent for a long time. Something clicked in Hera's brain, and Ezra could tell, because her hand flew up to her mouth subconsciously.

"Kid," Kanan breathed out. It had hit them, hard. The Kid was completely alone.

Ezra resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Had they really thought he had parents? Ezra didn't have time for them to feel sorry for him. He had to get on with his life. He looked at them, eyebrows raised. _"You uncovered a secret, congratulations. Now leave so I can move on."_

Hera was the first to _speak_. "Kid, we had no idea, we are so sorry." This time Ezra rolled his eyes. _"I don't need your pity."_ He had to get out of the room, away from the sad stares of Kanan and Hera. So he went to the kitchen, and luckily they didn't follow him.

Ezra kept a meager supply of mealbars and medicine in the house in case he need to camp here for the night. But he wasn't about to use those. Instead, he added to the stash with some food he kept on his person. _"Better safe than sorry."_

 ** _-SWR-_**

Ezra hadn't gone back out to the door, and so far, Kanan and Hera hadn't tried to find him. But they were still there, because he could hear their stressed whispers. He'd just sat there in the kitchen, thinking over everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. A lot of the stuff he didn't want to think about. So he didn't.

Instead, Ezra decided to go back out into the front room. The Music kept pulling him towards there. It was strange how it had been so _present_ in his mind lately.

Kanan and Hera immediately stood up the second he walked into the room. Ezra put on his best _"I'm the one in control here"_ face.

"Kid, um, we're sorry about all this . . ." Ezra cut Kanan off with an eye roll

"But we'd like to make you an offer." Hera finished. Her voice was steady, smooth, in short, it intrigued Ezra.

"Come and join us on our ship." Kanan looked Ezra in the eye. "You have something within you, something that's hard to explain in a short amount of time. It's like, music almost, in the back of your head, guiding you along." At this the Music flared up and began to grow stronger, like something finally understood it.

Ezra knew he couldn't let it show though. He raised his eyebrow even higher, _"What's in it for me?"_

"In addition to learning about the . . . music, with Kanan, you could also help us mess with the Empire, give it what it deserves." Now this right here was a compelling argument. Making the Empire pay, messing with it, that was what Ezra had been doing on his own for a long time. I might actually be nice to have some backup. The Music flared up again, as if to say _"Don't forget about me!"_

Ezra though about it for a moment. There were definitely cons, no argument about that, but there were also pros, and in a way, the pros almost outweighed the cons. After another brief moment, Ezra bobbed his head. _"Yes, I'll do it."_

Hera's smile was huge, and Kanan grinned as well.

"Well, we can't keep calling you 'Kid' if you're a member of the crew. Is there any way you can show us your name?" Kanan asked. Ezra though for a moment before putting a finger up. _"One minute."_ He ran into the kitchen and grabbed an old pen a paper pad from the same place he kept his mealbars.

He then ran back out to Kanan and Hera and handed them the pad. Hera took it first. The Kid's Basic must have been a little rusty, but she could make out the letters.

"Well, Ezra, welcome aboard."

 **A/N** There's Ch. 6! So on the note of a busy week, I have this huge project due in English, and one of the aspects is to interview someone in our chosen field of work. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Creative Writer?! Luckily I found one (Thank the Force).

Anyways, I've been feeling like my chapters are feeling filler-ish or not import. If any of you have any ideas to help that, I would really appreciate it if you'd drop me a comment. They really help to motive me to write! Love all you guys, thanks for reading!

-M3m


	7. Sharpshooter

**A/N** Here is Ch. 7, sorry it took so long! Explanations down below, but for now, please enjoy the chapter!

 **Disclaimer - If Star Wars Rebels was mine, you'd be watching this on a TV instead of reading it.**

It had been almost a week since Ezra decided to join the crew, and he still wasn't too happy about the whole situation. But it was better than starving to death.

He shared a bunk with Zeb, which was pretty much horrible in every way. First off, Zeb wasn't exactly thrilled about Ezra joining the crew. Second, Ezra had never had to share a room before, and third, Zeb down right smelled. Absolute stank.

Other than Zeb, the crew was relatively okay, but boring. There had been no action whatsoever, they were just hiding out. Kanan hadn't said really anything about learning about the Music. The Music itself, at first, seemed excited, but grew annoyed as the week drug on.

But, finally, Hera had told them that they had something they could do.

"There's a weapons factory on the other side of Lothal. A shipment of power cells and other parts will be coming in. We're supposed to intercept the shipment and bring the cargo to one of Lothal's moons."

"And who are these power cells going to?" Zeb asked, his arms crossed and a permanent scowl on his face.

"That's not for us to know," Hera looked sternly at the Lasat. "Sabine, any idea how we can stop the transport before it gets there?"

"I think this calls for a little _miracle_." Sabine smirked and tossed a small bomb in the air.

 ** _-SWR-_**

An hour later, everything was in position. Ezra and Sabine had taken the _Phantom_ to the ground, getting the blasts ready. Ezra was crouched on top of a rock while Sabine set the charges. Over the past week, Hera had made a modification to Ezra's com so that he could contact specific coms, and every time he did that, it would make a quiet, steady beeping noise.

In this particular instance, he was to notify Sabine once he saw the transport. She would then scurry behind the rock and ignite the _"miracles"_ when the vehicle was on top of them.

At that point, the small energy field holding the cargo on would disperse, and Hera would fly the _Ghost_ close enough for Kanan and Zeb to load the cargo. Then they would all meet at a rendezvous point just a few miles away. It was a fool proof plan really.

Ezra saw the transport and clicked the small button for Spector 5. Sabine looked up and gave a small nod, just enough to let him know she heard it.

By the time she had made it behind the boulder, the transport was about twenty feet away from the blasts. Sabine pressed the button at the right time and energy field dispersed. But the blast was larger than expected, alerting the troopers inside the transport.

The _Ghost_ had just come into view, and the enemy was ready. The small cannon atop the transport came to life and began firing at the open cargo hold of the ship. Kanan and Zeb had already jumped to the ground and troopers flooded out the side of the ship to meet them.

The sheer number of the troopers overwhelmed them. There were usually three troopers per transport, it was standard Imperial protocol. But there were at the very least ten that had come out and began firing. Kanan immediately ignited his lightsaber and Zeb already had his Bo-Rife in firing position.

But the troopers had not begun to fire. They held the blasters up, as if expecting the two rebels to surrender. Kanan and Zeb exchanged uneasy glances.

"I see you have found our little trap," A crisp, Imperial accent cut through the air. "And I trust you will give up without a fight." Agent Kallus came into view, his own bo-rife in combat position.

"Well when you say it like that, it all sounds so easy." Zeb said through gritted teeth. Ties began to swarm overhead, obviously looking for Hera. Sabine was led out from behind her rock by a few other troopers. Ezra was the only one who had not been spotted.

"I heard reports that a lone Lasat had taken up residence with a rebel _gang_ , but I never figured it was true." Kallus seemed to only be interested in Zeb, and not the Jedi standing right in front of him.

"I heard that you had died in battle." Zeb seemed to get angrier by the minute. "What a shame you didn't, it would save me from having to kill you now." Zeb charged at Kallus, but he skillfully blocked him, their bo-rifes locked in defiance.

The troopers took this opportunity to begin firing at Kanan, who reflected every blaster bolt right back at them. Sabine had already broken free and began fighting the troopers surrounding her. In the distance, Ezra could hear Hera exchanging fire with the Ties.

He felt utterly useless atop his rock. This team already knew how to work well together, there really seemed to be no reason to be here.

If the Music had a hand, it would have slapped Ezra in the face. It screamed towards the fight below, and Ezra realized that Kallus was overpowering Zeb and the troopers had Sabine and Kanan backed up against each other. And he was the only one that hadn't been spotted.

Ezra readied his slingshot and aimed it at the space between one of the trooper's helmet and armor, the weak spot. The Music made an approving sound before he let the weapon go. It hit its target just moments after he fired it.

He quickly buzzed Kanan's com to let him know that it was him, and began firing at the other troopers. They couldn't figure out what were the little bolts of terror were coming from, and Ezra quite enjoyed it.

 _"_ _That's right, it's raining death."_ This had given Kanan and Sabine the vantage they needed to overpower the remaining troops, and they did so.

Ezra was ready to begin celebrating when he remembered Zeb. He turned to see that Kallus had Zeb back up against the wall, his ignited bo-rife inches from Zeb's face. He was muttering something about the death of the Lasats and Zeb seemed very scared.

Ezra readied his slingshot, waiting for it to load to maximum power before firing. He cleared his mind and the Music seemed to help guide his hands. Ezra let the energy bolt go, and it collided with Kallus' ear, knocking the man off balance before he blacked out.

Zeb looked up at Ezra astounded, but said nothing. They had to move before any of the Imperials woke up.

"Alright everyone, to the _Phantom_!" Kanan's voice came over the com, and everyone silently followed.

 ** _-SWR-_**

"How'd you get away from all those Ties?" Kanan asked. They had flown to the rendezvous point and Hera was already waiting for them.

"Cloud cover, old trick." She smiled, which made Kanan smirk. "How did fighting the ground war go?"

"Ezra helped, a lot." Zeb had stayed quite the while ride here, but now spoke up. "I think, I think he'd make a good sharpshooter, if he had the right blaster of course." Everyone looked at Ezra, and the Music hummed in pride. _"It was nothing, but jeez you guys were drowning out there."_

 **A/N** There's chapter 7! I'm sooo sorry it took so long! I had a bazillion projects due for school, and I just got back from Louisville Kentucky for Policy Debate Nationals. Have any of you ever been to Nats? It was awesome!

Also, happy Pride month!

Anyways, thanks for reading, questions and comments are appreciated!

-M3m


	8. The Kriff Was That

**A/N** I know, I know, I suck at updates, sorry! But here is the new chapter!

 **Disclaimer: Let's face it, if I owned SWR, y'all would be watching this instead of reading it.**

"Focus Ezra. Listen within you." Kanan and Ezra were sitting atop the _Ghost_ , finally getting to some training. Ezra though that it would involve lightsabers and cool tricks, but it was rather boring.

The day had started with the Music being very excited, waking Ezra up almost an hour before sunrise. Kanan had explained that Ezra was force-sensitive, and that that was what Music in his head was. He'd promised to teach him all he could about the Jedi lifestyle and the Force. But for some reason, they had started out meditating.

 _"_ _This is more boring than watching grass grow."_

"Get to a place where you can feel and see nothing, dig through the emotions." Kanan seemed to be trying his hardest to explain things, but Ezra still didn't follow. Ploughing through emotions was hard, and not exactly something Ezra did in his free time. He had done a very good job at keeping them down as of late.

Ezra gave a frustrated grunt, and leaned back so he was laying down, hands behind his head.

"I'm sorry, Kid." Kanan broke his concentration and turned so he was facing Ezra. "You're bored, aren't you?"

Ezra looked at him like he had just pointed out the most painstakingly obvious thing in the entire galaxy. It was basically the equivalent of saying: "The Empire's taken over, hasn't it?"

"I just figured with your injuries, it would be easier to meditate today." Kanan was partially right. Ezra's side was mostly healed, it just left a dull ache every time he twisted. And his arm had gotten some gravel in it on the mission, which resulted in inflammation. But he had dealt with worse. When Hera had the idea to go into town and purchase bacta packs, Ezra quickly reassured her (as best he could) that he was fine and didn't need them.

Ezra rolled his eyes at Kanan. It was apparent that he had never taught anyone this stuff, and was probably out of practice himself. Ezra pointed to the blaster attached to Kanan's side.

Kanan seemed grateful for the distraction from Jedi training, and handed it to Ezra.

"You ever shot one before?" Ezra rolled his eyes yet again and began looking for something to shoot at.

"Oh, right, a target. Um . . ." Kanan looked around too and his eyes landed on a rock about thirty meters away. "Alright, the thing with you is that you're small and quiet." Ezra face palmed, but Kanan continued.

"You could lay down somewhere and no one would know you're there. So what we'll do is set you in strategic high points to take out troopers." Ezra liked that sound of that. It was easy, and he could do so much more, but it kept him a little further out of reach of the Empire, and every little bit helps.

Ezra lowered himself and took aim at the target. He pulled the trigger and a plasma bolt shot out from the nozzle of the blaster, traveling the short distance in an instant and hit the center of the rock. Ezra himself was very proud of the shot and looked smugly at Kanan.

"Great job, kid, you can hit a rock," Kanan deadpanned, and Ezra's look disappeared. "How about moving rocks." Kanan lifted his hand and several rocks began to float in the air and Ezra began shooting at them from his vantage point.

After a while, the shots came more naturally. The Music in his head seemed to be moving through his body as well, taking all the difficulty out of aiming. He didn't even have to look to hit the rocks. He closed his eyes, slowly, letting the Music take over.

 _"_ _It flows through you . . ." A voice began to speak in Ezra's mind._

 _"_ _Trust in the Force . . ."_

 _"_ _May the Force be with you," Ezra saw a man and woman, tears in their blue eyes. For the first time in a long time, Ezra recognized these two as his parents, moments . . . moments before something. That part was fuzzy, as all of his memories were. He dug deeper, swimming through a metaphorical sea of images._

 _These images were all of his parents, flashing before his eyes. Ephiram? Yes, Ephiram was showing him how to work a transmitter. Mira was mending a playsuit in the corner, joking and laughing. If only they had known . . ._

"Ezra!" Ezra didn't know how long Kanan was shouting at him, but from the look on his face it had been quite a while. He quickly sat up, a hand instinctively reaching for his collar then his forehead.

 _"_ _What just happened?"_ He rubbed his head as Kanan helped the boy sit up and then sat beside him.

"The kriff was that?" Kanan gestured out to the field were two dozen rocks lay on the ground, smoldering. Ezra looked up, and suddenly felt the urge to tell him everything. The dreamlike trances he found himself in, what had happened to him all those years ago with his parents.

He opened his mouth to make a noise, anything that could be considered communication. But his throat wouldn't let him. He tried to begin a sentence, but was interrupted by a coughing fit, causing his throat to flare up in pain.

"Kid, you okay?" Kanan looked genuinely concerned for him, a hand on his shoulder. Despite the coughing, Ezra face-palmed. For a Jedi, this guy asked the dumbest questions. He managed to get everything under control, but his throat was scratchy and sore.

"Do you wanna continue with training today?" Kanan asked.

 _"_ _Yeah, let's take a break, it only took us a week and a half to start."_ Ezra rolled his eyes and lifted the blaster once more, aiming and quickly shooting the top of boulder in the distance.

"Alright, I guess that's a yes."

 ** _-SWR-_**

By the time the sun set over the Lothalian planes, Ezra had shot every rock within sight into a billion different little pieces, from different vantage points. They were sitting on the ramp to the _Ghost_ , staring at the horizon.

Ezra's head hurt from the Music constantly taking over, but it was something he was ready to get used to. It was kind of fun, getting to train like this.

"Boys, you might want to get to the galley before Zeb eats all the food!" Hera yelled down the ramp, wiping her hands on a rag.

"Tell him that the next time he eats my food, he's getting a lightsaber to the gut." Kanan yelled back jokingly, earning a laugh from her.

"I doubt he'll head the warning, back okay." she replied as she headed back into the ship. Kanan settled back down on the ramp and looked over at Ezra.

"You did good today, Ezra." He reached out and ruffled the kid's hair. Ezra smiled and rolled his eyes. He still wanted to tell him about the dream-vision-thingy, but didn't know how in the world he could get his point across. So he pushed it to the back of his mind for now.

"Now, I for one actually want to eat tonight, so let's head in." Ezra looked up mischievously and started running into the ship, silently starting a race.

"No fair! You got a head start!" Kanan yelled as he raced Ezra in, smiling at his padawan the whole way.

 **A/N** Well guys, another chapter in the works! I do have some sort of an explanation for my month long wait. I spent two weeks in D.C. for a 4-H program called Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF), and it was amazing! I highly recommend it.

Anyways, thanks for reading, questions and comments are always appreciated! Love you guys 3

 _-M3m_


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